(EDITING IN PROGRESS) 11/2023
They, who had instantly hated each other the first time they met, would end up being seduced by the danger of the unknown, tempted to taste something that promised to be sweeter and more intoxicating than any liquor.
[T...
It had been a couple of weeks since the warrior had returned to Thanjuul Temple, with the report of his failed mission for his master, who was already expecting these results, and therefore there were no consequences.
Apparently.
Kayn couldn't stop thinking about his last encounter with the young ninja, and Rhaast rejoiced over his strange behavior because it gave him the chance to ridicule his companion, triggering his fury.
"There is fear in your grip... and doubt in your heart," the Darkin told him one day while he was training to take out his frustration, pouring it onto a pair of practice dummies that, at that point, were little more than a pile of garbage. Out of breath, he panted to catch the air he needed.
He pondered the demon's words for a moment, certainly not feeling like himself since he had returned from his failed mission. Perhaps it was his hurt pride for having failed, perhaps it was the fatigue of following an extremely restless woman for several days, perhaps it was from enduring the taunts of his weapon that were more frequent than ever. Whatever it was, it bothered him greatly to know that what Rhaast was saying, was indeed potentially true.
No. He stopped his inner voice. It was impossible, long ago he had eliminated any trace of humanity in his being, the child was gone and in his place, only the assassin remained.
"I have no heart, Rhaast..." he replied, cutting with the scythe what was left of the training dummies "that... you should fear" he finished
"It's all that woman's fault, Kayn," he spoke again through their mental connection, with a tone the warrior knew very well "...kill her, and your spirit will finally rest."
"Mine?" Said the young man sarcastically, "or yours?"
"Isn't her fault you had to come back empty-handed? Don't you feel like making her pay for looking down on you?" The Darkin tempted again, but this time he got no response.
He didn't want to eat, he couldn't sleep, he couldn't focus properly for several days. What had she done to him? What kind of dark, twisted magic had she used on him? And if she had, what for?
His paranoia led him to think that perhaps the Rogue Assassin was using magic to control him, weaken him, and then eliminate him as she wanted from the first time they fought. Or maybe she planned to use that controlling magic to assassinate Zed, using him as a tool. The more he thought about it, the more sense it made, and the more furious he was.
He decided that he wasn't going to allow any kind of strange magic to manipulate him, his shadow magic would be more powerful than any Kinkou cheap spell. And of course, being the exceptional pupil that he was, the day would inevitably come when he would have to fight his master, but in the meantime, he would remain loyal. First, he needed to erase any trace of weird magic in him by erasing the one who put the spell on him.
No one would miss him for a couple of days.
He found his target in the northeast of Ionia, in a small village next to the seaside. Apparently, she had just completed a mission because she was in a small warehouse accompanied by two lifeless bodies. She was totally clean, as if she hadn't just taken the lives of a couple of unfortunate individuals.
He thought he could catch her off guard and just attack her from behind, but the girl in question jumped back, landing right in front of him. They looked at each other intently for a few milliseconds and as if weeks hadn't passed since their last encounter, they engaged in their habitual combat.
Nothing had changed, they continued to fight without surrendering to the strength of the other, their fight was so fast and graceful that it seemed even entertaining to watch, they made it look like child's play.
When fatigue began to affect them, they each settled into a corner of the room, panting, still staring at each other. Well, something had actually changed:
He now had the intention of killing her.
"You may wanna rethink this... little encounter"
"If I was in my optimal condition, you would have already died," the warrior yelled
"Are you drunk, then?" She asked, the smile present in her voice even though the fabric of her mask hid it.
"Keep feigning innocence... give me another reason to cut off your head"
"You talk too much"
And with that, a gray cloud flooded the room. A second later he was on the ground with a lightweight on top of him, but he had lived that before. Helped by his shadow magic, he trespassed the ground and shifted positions with his attacker, immobilizing her and touching her neck with the cold edge of his scythe. One slight movement and she would be dead in the blink of an eye.
"Congrats," she coughed, "kill me, you earned it."
"And I will, Fist of Shadow"
"Keep talking ... and I'll go"
"Before that, you are going to undo the magic you used on me"
"What?"
Kayn tightened the blade of his weapon against his opponent, causing Akali to instinctively raise her head a little more to push her neck away from danger.
"Your death will suppress the magic if you don't do it willingly"
"You're delusional... Just kill me and stop talking shit!"
In a swift movement, he loosed his grip on the girl to lift her by her hair and slam her against a nearby wall, so that he could fix his gaze on his victim's eyes.
"Talk! What kind of magic did you use?"
"I don't need any magic, madman" she spat, "steel's better."
Kayn felt a slight stinging in his abdomen, he looked down immediately to realize that his enemy had shoved a kunai right into his stomach. That gave Akali time to kick him away from her, accompanying the attack with a couple more blades that struck one of his arms and his right side. She distracted him enough to sneak out of the warehouse and fade among the people who walked through the town streets.
Now more than ever, he was attracted to the idea of hunting her down and making her pay. He heard Rhaast laugh; the hunt was beginning.
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This chapter was an odyssey, really... I re-wrote it like four times while editing it because I didn't quite like it, but in the end, I think it turned out fine! :D
Every time I finished editing it, I was like "Nonono, this isn't like them..." and just started over.
I hope you like it! I'm still editing the next one and haven't translated it, but I should upload it on Friday. My usual apologies for any mistakes made in this chapter :c
